Ronald Johnson sentenced to life for role in killing Luke Meiners

St. Louis, MO (KSDK) - A life prison term, with no chance of probation or parole, is the punishment for a man who admitted his role in the 2008 slaying of St. Louis County counselor Luke Meiners.

24 year old Ronald Johnson of Normandy actually admitted his guilt more than two years ago, but was not sentenced until now.

Along with the life sentence for the first degree murder, Johnson was also ordered to serve concurrent ten year terms for pleading guilty to robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.

Meiners was killed inside a central west end home on Waterman Boulevard. Police say the victim was stabbed and strangled before his body was loaded into a vehicle and dumped into a wooded area along the Mississippi River near Venice, Illinois.

The apparent motive was robbery.

A co defendant in the case, 45 year old Cleophus King is awaiting trial on the same charges, and faces the death penalty. Prosecutors in St. Louis announced earlier their intention of seeking capital punishment against King.